Gun Offenders Are Repeaters

Gun Crimes A state study finds weapons offenders with high rates of recidivism

September 21, 2010

It's not news that criminals with guns are dangerous. What might not be widely known is that they are also persistent.

A new state study has found that men incarcerated on weapons charges in Connecticut, and those arrested on gun charges but convicted on reduced offenses, are very likely to be repeat offenders who commit other serious crimes.

The data should help the parole board decide who to release and who to retain as it faces increased pressure to reduce the prison population. The information also should give the General Assembly something to think about.

What The Numbers Show

The study, by the state Office of Policy and Management, analyzed the records of 14,391 male Connecticut inmates who were let out of prison in 2005. Of those, 1,862, or about 13 percent, had served time for a weapons conviction, either in this or an earlier incarceration. Of that cohort, 75.2 percent were arrested again within three years and 45.5 percent went back in prison. The numbers were almost as high for those arrested on gun charges but convicted of a lesser offense.

For those whose crimes didn't involve guns, the recidivism rate after three years is a lower but still substantial 67 percent, with 36.8 percent back in prison.

Also, 87 percent of those who did time on weapons charges had also been incarcerated for other serious crimes, the study found. In short, use of, or even proximity to, an illegal gun is a marker for a serious criminal.

The study was requested by Robert Farr, chairman of the state Board of Pardons and Paroles and a member of the Criminal Justice Policy Advisory Commission, on behalf of the latter agency. Mr. Farr anticipates calls to reduce the size of the prison population as the state grapples with budget deficits of more than $3 billion per year in the next two years.

Paroled Too Soon

The issue Mr. Farr faces is this: Many of the gun crimes for which offenders are sent to prison, such as carrying a weapon without a permit, are technically considered nonviolent. That means offenders become eligible for parole after serving 50 percent of their sentences (violent offenders must serve 85 percent of their sentences). That doesn't mean they are automatically released on parole. Mr. Farr said he urges the board to hold gun offenders for at least 75 percent of their sentences. The recidivism study would appear to support the notion of holding gun offenders longer.

Trends in others states with budget problems strongly suggest there will be pressure to push inmates out of prison. Some states have lessened penalties for minor drug offenses. Mississippi, heretofore not a hotbed of prison reform, passed a law in 2008 making nonviolent offenders eligible for parole after serving 25 percent of their sentences. Since then, the state has quietly released more than 3,000 convicted felons, according to Governing magazine.

This may well make sense in Connecticut, if it can be done safely. The state has built a large corrections system, with an annual operating budget of $667 million and 6,600 employees. If more nonviolent offenders can be placed in other settings, by using community programs as well as tracking devices, the public fisc, and most likely the inmates, will be better off.

So the challenge for the parole board is to make what Mr. Farr calls "the great sort," to determine which inmates can be safely released early and which cannot. If gun offenders are so overwhelmingly likely to commit another crime and return to prison, there isn't much point in springing them early.

Plus, carrying illegal guns is very risky behavior. Despite some of the tightest gun laws in the country, illegal weapons are still plentiful in Connecticut. Hartford police seized at least four guns last Friday. Two Hartford police officers have been shot and wounded in the past 10 months, one by an 18-year-old. It would be good if people who are thinking about arming themselves illegally know it could mean more time in jail.